by Yuan Xiaona 

A combined photo shows four Pakistani members of the Iron Volunteer Group of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, on Feb. 24, 2020. They have taken part in the last-mile delivery works for the international students since the university was put on lockdown. [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn]  

WUHAN, Feb. 28 (China Economic Net) – Taking orders, placing orders, receiving goods and delivering goods, distributing rice and vegetables … these are part of the routine work of volunteers of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) since the university was put on lockdown.    
Among them, four Pakistani students practice the “Long Live China-Pakistan Friendship” with actions as volunteers who put themselves in danger for the sake of other students during the fight against the COVID-19.        

Stepping forward boldly to serve

To better control the coronavirus, the dormitory building of CUG(Wuhan)’s international students has been adopted a "closed-end" management. However, this mode led to a pressing issue that is how to maintain the daily life of international students as some of them couldn’t use China’s online shopping platforms for purchasing essentials. 

Then, an African student, Tiando Damine, approached Zhao Yangping, a teacher in charge of international students and said, “Ms Zhao, please don’t worry. Our volunteers are here.” It was at the very difficult time that the Iron Volunteer Group stepped forward boldly to serve international students.

Members of these “Iron Men” come from about thirteen countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Madagascar, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Tajikistan, Jordan and Yemen.

Working day and night

These volunteers have taken almost all the last-mile delivery works for the international students staying in Wuhan. Besides taking orders, placing orders, receiving goods and delivering goods, sometimes volunteers have to sort and sub-package vegetables and even weight wheat flour. 

The “Iron Men” volunteer team was divided into several groups to offer better services for students, like food ordering group, daily necessaries purchasing group, supplies distributing group and girls’ group.

There are two students of the food ordering group in charge of ordering Non-Muslim food and Muslim food from CUG(Wuhan)’s canteens.“I am responsible for ordering Muslim food,” said Ismail Shah, a Pakistani volunteer. 

To facilitate food ordering, Shah created a group on WeChat, China's most popular social media platform. Every night, students put their food orders for the next day in that group. They pay for their orders by WeChat Pay or Alipay, China’s top two digital payments.

After that, Shah has to make a list of all the orders and send it to his teacher Luo Jingang. Mr Luo takes the charge of forward the list to the logistics department of CUG(Wuhan). The department takes the order to canteens.

The ordered food would be brought to the gate of students’ dormitory at 11:30am, the next day. Then, it is time for the supplies distributing group to take over the delivering work. 

Shah told CEN, “We are working in a proper way. Everyone has its own responsibility.” He added, “Besides routine responsibility, we also have unscheduled works, just like distributing wheat flour, rice, vegetables, cooking oil, eggs, fruits, etc.”

For example, CUG(Wuhan) got an exclusive donation consisting of 53.6 tonnes of fresh vegetables and a batch of rubbing alcohol on the evening of February 23, 2020.Some of the vegetables were taken to the first floor of the international students’ dormitory. Volunteers assembled there at 9:50 on the following day. 

They must divide every kind of the donated vegetables into 283 pieces and then put every pieces of different vegetables to one package, so that each student can get all kinds of vegetables. They start to work at 10:15 am, and finish the 283 packages at 12:30pm. 

After having lunch and a short break, the volunteers start distributing vegetables to students at 14:00. It takes them three hours to finish the distribution of all vegetable packages. 

Volunteering for China-Pak friendship
However, volunteers couldn’t call it a day yet.
A Pakistani volunteer Habib Ur Rehman, has to make a report “Iron Man Volunteering Dairy” and send it to the working group before 21:00.

As all volunteers and teachers often hold an online meeting at 21:00. They discuss the students issues and how to meet their demands, as well as make a schedule for next day’s work.

Rehman, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said, “I feel tired physically, but I get inner satisfaction from helping others as a volunteer.”If someone wants to work as a volunteer, which means that he or she wants to help the humanity, he said.  
“I can't express the work of CUG(Wuhan) volunteers in words because they put themselves in danger for the sake of other students,” he told CEN.

Another Pakistani volunteer Muhammad Akhtar Alam wrote on his social media account that “It is time to cook dinner for myself after serving students all the day, without getting any rest... I salute all the volunteers and teachers who serve students, while put their own lives in danger, listen to students’ complaints and tolerate students’ misbehavior every day without any complaints. I salute and respect all of you. God bless us all and God bless Wuhan.”

When asked the reason to join in the volunteer team, Shah said, “It’s my prime responsibility to help my good neighbor, friends and iron brothers.I want to contribute to the battle during the lockdown. It's my belief that volunteerism is the best way for contribution.”

He wants to tell Chinese brothers and sisters, “We all are with you. We will fight together. We will defeat the COVID-19. It’s just like a night, and after few hours, the Sun will shine again. And ‘Indeed! Ease with difficulty’ (Al-Quran).” 

Maqsood Ur Rahman, a volunteer from Pakistan, told Ms Zhao, “It is my duty to make contributions to CUG(Wuhan) during the outbreak of coronavirus. Teachers, friends and Wuhan need us. For me, China is not a foreign country and it is just like my home. I can’t leave China now. I will fight to the end.” 

Ms Zhao told CEN, “These Pakistani students actively volunteer to serve other internationals students during the outbreak of COVID-19. I think that they are just like the Chinese young people and neither of them forget the friendship of our elder generations. We are still practicing the ‘Long Live China-Pakistan Friendship’ with actions. We will tell the iron brothers’ stories to our next generations in the future.”

Members of the Iron Volunteer Group of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) take a group photo at the campus in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, on Feb. 24, 2020. They have taken almost all the last-mile delivery works for the international students of the CUG(Wuhan) since the university was put on lockdown. [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn]    

Maqsood Ur Rahman, a Pakistani member of the Iron Volunteer Group of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) is seen at the campus in China’s Wuhan on February 24, 2020. [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn] 

Ismail Shah, a Pakistani volunteer, carries a box to the dormitory building of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) on February 24, 2020. Ismail Shah is a member of the Iron Volunteer Group of CUG(Wuhan). [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn] 

Habib Ur Rehman, a Pakistani volunteer, carries two vegetable packages to deliver at the dormitory building of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) on February 24, 2020. Habib Ur Rehman is a member of the Iron Volunteer Group of CUG(Wuhan). [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn]  

Muhammad Akhtar Alam, a Pakistani member of the Iron Volunteer Group of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), is seen at the campus in China’s Wuhan on February 24, 2020. [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn]

Packages with different kinds of vegetables are seen at the campus of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) in Hubei Province of China, on Feb. 25, 2020. [Photo by Luo Jingang/CE.cn]